Bayit HaYehudi candidate for Knesset MK Yaakov Katz (Ketzaleh) on Tuesday 4 Shevat 5773 made an appeal to Chabad Chassidim to vote for his party. Katz is a member of the Ichud HaLeumi faction and is currently an MK, a member of the opposition.

Katz speaks of the danger of additional areas of Yehuda and Shomron being handed over to non-Jews, realizing the late Rebbe ZT”L was an ardent advocate of the Greater Eretz Yisrael and prohibited talks pertaining to land negotiations, yet along actually giving away portions of Eretz Yisrael.

Speaking from the ruins of what used to be the Ulpana neighborhood of Beit El, Katz stated “Netanyahu gave in to Obama. He froze construction in Yehuda and Shomron and destroyed the Ulpana neighborhood. We must have a strong party to keep the prime minister in line.”

“If unfortunately Naftali Bennett does not get to 20 seats at least, Netanyahu will prefer to form a coalition government with Livni, Lapid and possibly Yacimovich for the very same reason that in the past he preferred to leave Ichud HaLeumi in opposition.”

“I call upon Chabad Chassidim in Israel, you and the power you wield, an influential power, to go from house to house and persuade neighbors to vote for Naftali Bennett. This is the only way to protect Eretz Yisrael.”

Regarding the Otzma Yisrael Party headed by Prof. Aryeh Eldad and Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, Katz explains “there is a good chance the party will not pass the minimum threshold. Then thousands of votes will not be represented in Knesset. Ichud HaLeumi tried to work a deal with the two, giving them the 8th and 11th slots on our list but they felt those places were unrealistic and they would not be in Knesset. Therefore they created their own party. Today we know they were incorrect. I am sorrow they did not opt to become part of our joint list.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)